Author: CAIR-Ohio

CAIR-Columbus Participates in ABC Townhall Debate

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 31, 2017

CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal participated in a town-hall debate organized by local news station ABC6 on March 20, 2017. The debate was on the new refugee and travel ban on six Muslim majority countries by President Trump. Iqbal opposed the ban and debated the issue with Mr. Jason Beardsley and Mr. Michael Gonidakis who were in support of the ban. The debate was lively with a lot of back and forth between the three participants. Iqbal argued that the ban did not advance US security interests, that it was, in fact, detrimental to American interests and that the ban would not be able to survive Court challenges on its constitutionality.

You can watch the debate at: http://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/town-hall-immigration-and-the-state-of-the-union

Tags ABC6, travel ban

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CAIR-Columbus Speaks at the North Congregational United Church

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 31, 2017

CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal gave a presentation at the North Congregational United Church of Christ on March 26, 2017. The presentation was well attended by members of the Church and lasted for around ninety minutes. In the first half of the presentation, Iqbal spoke about the legal issues relating to the travel and refugee ban by the President, the new directive by the DHS on treatment of undocumented migrants, and the various civil rights challenges faced by the Muslim community in Ohio. The first half was followed by a question and answer session where Iqbal took questions from an attentive audience on the travel ban, on avenues for providing support to the Ohio Muslim community, and on other issues covered in his presentation.

Tags North Congregational United Church, travel ban

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CAIR-Columbus Executive Director Recognized by City Council

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 28, 2017

On Monday, March 27, CAIR-Columbus and attorney Inna Simakovsky were recognized by Columbus City Council for their outstanding legal work representing a group of immigrants who were faced with losing their commercial drivers licenses. Jennifer Nimer and Simakovsky held a legal clinic open to the public on New Year’s Day to provide free appeals for anyone who walked through the door. Overall they filed over 45 appeals, which ultimately led the Ohio BMV to reverse its policy and not revoke the CDL licenses.

Click here to view video of of the resolution being presented at the City Council meeting and to hear the remarks made by City Council.

Tags BMV, City Council

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Tips for Traveling through the US Border

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 25, 2017

BEFORE YOU GET TO THE AIRPORT:

Use a password as its more secure than a fingerprint lock.
Delete and shift content to a cloud or leave device at home and use a temporary device.
Make sure you do full-disk encryption and backup the data somewhere else
If you decide to travel with your regular device, ensure all social media accounts, email accounts, or any other accounts with sensitive information are deleted from your phone.
Memorize your attorney’s phone number, and make sure a family member has your complete itinerary, including flight numbers, and your attorney’s name and contact info.

Tags Green card, Travel, US Border

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Tell Your House Representative to Vote No on Repealing Supervisor Liability for Discrimination

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 16, 2017

A bill now in the Ohio House would repeal the right of discrimination and retaliation victims to file civil suit against supervisors who unlawfully harass, discriminate or retaliate against them. This will have an impact on victims of many types of discrimination, including Muslims who suffer from discrimination based on religion or national origin.

Tell your House Representative to VOTE NO on House Bill 2. It would repeal decades of Ohio law holding companies and their managers responsible for the costs of their unlawful discrimination and retaliation.

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CAIR-Columbus Participates in “Courthouse to Community” Event

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 16, 2017

CAIR-Columbus attorneys Jennifer Nimer and Romin Iqbal participated in an event titled “Courthouse to the Community” which was organized by Columbus City Councilmember Michael Stinziano. The event was aimed at connecting immigrants with local legal service organizations. CAIR-Columbus along with 20 plus other legal providers met with members of the community to educate them about their legal services

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CAIR Welcomes Hawaii Judge’s Order Blocking Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban 2.0’ Nationwide

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 16, 2017

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/15/2017) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, tonight welcomed an order issued by a federal judge in Hawaii blocking President Trump’s new “Muslim Ban 2.0” executive order.

That presidential executive order, issued March 6, preserved major components of the original Muslim ban, including halting new visas and green cards for people from six majority-Muslim countries — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – stopping all refugees from entering the United States for 120 days and limiting total refugee admissions. The ban was set to go into effect just after midnight tonight.

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Summary of Muslim Ban 2.0

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 11, 2017

PHASE IN PERIOD

– The Travel Ban 2.0 will not go into effect until March 16, 2017 and the older order, signed on January 27, 2017 has been replaced.

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
– Ban will not apply to lawful permanent residents and current visa holders. However, expect high scrutiny at the border when entering.

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CAIR-Columbus Files Two Federal Immigration Delay Lawsuits

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 11, 2017

(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 3/10/17) – The Columbus Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) announced today the filing of two federal lawsuits for eleven Muslim plaintiffs with extreme immigration application delays.

The first lawsuit, filed against US Attorney General Jeff Sessions and various officials from DHS and USCIS, was filed on behalf of a Libyan national who is a U.S. green card holder with a citizenship application pending since 2014.

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CAIR-Columbus Director Appointed to New American Advisory Council

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 10, 2017

3/10/17 – CAIR-Columbus Executive Director, Jennifer Nimer, was appointed this week to the City of Columbus’ New American Advisory Council (“NAAC”).

The NAAC consists of representatives for various elected officials along with representatives of community organizations that represent refugees and immigrants. It was first convened last year by now-Commissioner Kevin Boyce to discuss ways that the city and state could help the newest Americans in our community to integrate into our broader society.

Since the presidential election, the NAAC has been meeting weekly in order to discuss issues affecting local new Americans and to discuss ways to promote the image of immigrants and refugees in Ohio. The Council is planning a large symposium in May that will be open to the public and will highlight the positive contributions of refugees and immigrants to our local Ohio communities.

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CAIR-Columbus & Local Clergy Denounce Trump’s New Executive Order (Video)

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 8, 2017

COLUMBUS, Ohio — On Thursday, March 7th, a prominent group of interfaith clergy and community leaders gathered at Trinity Episcopal Church to condemn President Trump’s executive order banning the entry of immigrants and visitors from Muslim-majority countries, as well as refugees.

Clergy and community leaders called on President Trump to immediately repeal this executive order and protect religious freedom. Our nation was founded to be a beacon of hope and freedom for people fleeing violence and persecution.

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CAIR-Columbus Director Speaks at International Women’s Day Event

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 7, 2017

CAIR-Columbus Executive Director, Jennifer Nimer, was one of three panelists to speak at the International Women’s Day event at the Ohio Statehouse on March 6, 2017. The panelists discussed the contributions their organizations are making to advancing immigrant women’s rights in central Ohio.

Nimer said that CAIR has consistently been the leading Muslim organization in promoting women in leadership roles. She pointed out that nationwide CAIR has many female Executive Directors, lawyers, and board members, including the current chair of the CAIR National Board.

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CAIR-Columbus Speaks at Islamophobia Roundtable Hosted by City Council

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date March 6, 2017

Columbus City Council is continuing to fight against hate speech and discrimination.

On Monday, March 6, from 5-7pm at the Abubakar Assidiq Islamic Center, Columbus City Council held a roundtable discussion regarding the proliferation in hateful Islamophobic rhetoric and violence across the country.

A panel of interfaith leaders and representatives helped facilitate the conversation, including CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal. Mr. Iqbal also gave a report on the state of Islamophobia and status of other marginalized groups in America before the start of the panel discussion.

Tags columbus city council

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Important Information About the “Muslim Ban”

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date January 28, 2017

Like you, we only recently received the final, signed copies of President Trump’s Executive Orders targeting Muslims and refugees. And like you, we are appalled at these attempts to erode our American values by targeting individuals based on race, religion, and national origin.

A complete analysis will take time, but we continue to hear from many of you, worried about what this means for your families and friends. Accordingly, we wanted to reach out and offer some preliminary guidance. We will send out more details as they become clear.

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CAIR-Columbus to Hold News Conference on President Trump’s “Muslim Ban” Executive Order

Post author By CAIR-Ohio
Post date January 26, 2017

(Columbus, OH, 1/25/17) – On Thursday, January 26, the Council on American-Islamic-Relations, Columbus chapter, an office of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, will hold a news conference with other non-profit, refugee rights groups, civic & faith leaders to offer reactions to recent and upcoming executive orders signed by President Donald Trump.